Sparda (Devil Arm)

The Sparda and its unawakened form, the Force Edge, is the beloved demon-forged sword wielded by the The Dark Knight Sparda himself , and magically imbued with his power. Throughout the series, the sword is recognized as a source of god-like power, and in both Devil May Cry 3 and Devil May Cry 4, it was the main objective of the villains. It is Dante's default weapon in Devil May Cry, and Trish's in Devil May Cry 2 and 4 Special Edition. In addition, Vergil is able to summon spectral versions of the Force Edge as his Summoned Swords.

Appearence
The Sword of Sparda has two forms: Force Edge and Sparda.

Force Edge, the unawakened form, resembles a basic sword. The guard takes a "W" shape, vaguely resembling Sparda's horns. It has a spiral handle that leads to four skulls on the pommel with a spike at the top.

In its awakened state, Sparda keeps the handle and cross-guard, but the spike on the skulls is split in half, with the frontward, more elaborate half forming a small blade that curves around the bottom of Sparda's blade (in Devil May Cry, the front half is a simple hook). Force Edge's blade is replaced with a spine-like structure attatched to two curved blades via an organic looking substance. Together the blades form one long blade when in sword mode. The top portion has a large glowing red gem-like object in the center. The other side has two significantly smaller gems, glowing orange and pink. Sparda's blades can reorient themselves to give Sparda various shapes to suit its needs. Dante and Trish shift the halves to create a scythe for Round Trip and point both blades forward for a spear for Stinger.

Story
The Sparda was originally wielded by the Dark Knight Sparda himself, but when he closed the gate between the Human and Demon Worlds, he also sealed his demonic power inside his beloved sword in order to ensure the strength of the seal. Sparda also took the Perfect Amulet, causing the sword's own natural powers to fall asleep and become the Force Edge.

Many centuries later, however, Arkham conspired to obtain the sword, and through it, Sparda's power, which he would use to rule the world. He manages to manipulate Dante, Vergil, and Lady into allowing him to obtain the Perfect Amulet and opening the gate to the Netherworld for him, thus allowing him to both acquire the sword and awaken its power. After drawing the sword, he takes the form of Sparda, but because it does not resonate with him like it later did with Dante and Sanctus, and his inhumanity, he was unable to control its immense power and mutates into a hideous, blob-like form, which is quickly slain by Dante and Vergil. As Arkham's demonic form dissolves, the Force Edge and Perfect Amulet fall further into the Netherworld, and both Dante and Vergil dive after them. They fight over the weapon, and though Vergil is defeated, he retains his half of the amulet. Dante then returns to the Human World with the Force Edge.

Dante takes up the Force Edge as his own sword, calling it "Woozy" and takes it with him to the castle on Mallet Island in the Rebellion's stead. Throughout his mission there, he periodically encounters the dark knight Nelo Angelo, who is mysteriously shaken when he notices Dante's part of the amulet. After Nelo Angelo is finally defeated and revealed as Vergil, Dante obtains the other half of the amulet and the Sparda is reawakened. It later allows him to take Sparda's form in the final battle with Mundus. Afterward, he plants the sword as a memorial to the seemingly dead Trish, but when Trish is later revealed to be alive and carrying the sword, he allows her to keep it.

When not in use, Trish leaves the Sparda hanging on the wall of. After Lady explains the problems she is having with the Order of the Sword to Dante and Trish, Trish takes the sword and leaves without asking Dante's permission. Disguised as Gloria, she gives the Sparda to Sanctus in order to win his trust and infiltrate the Order, since they need the sword in order to empower their greatest tool, The Savior. Sanctus later resonates with the weapon and uses it against Nero, though his inhumanity does not allow him to fully control it. After Nero defeats Sanctus and rescues Kyrie from being used as the core of The Savior, he gives the Sparda back to its rightful owner, Dante.

Gameplay
In Devil May Cry, the Force Edge is Dante's beginning sword and is a gift from his father, so he held onto it. In terms of its raw damage, it is weaker compared to the Alastor, but that is because it had no power to give alot of damage. However, as soon as it was awakened, the Sparda has its own version of Devil Trigger, functioning like its creator's anatomy and power, so it has the power to turn into three different weapon forms, such as sword, spear and scythe, and in its damage, it has become stronger. Also, the only issue is that since it is a weapon, it can't heal, nor Dante. The Sparda changes to spear-mode when using Stinger or Million Stab, it changes to its scythe-mode when using Round Trip. In its full potential or as basically a last resort, it can bestow a devil trigger to its user, most respectively Dante, who will turn to his father's demon form and at some point, extend the range of attacks and new moves given, most are Sparda's own versions to Alastor and Ifrit's. In the menu or CGI animation, the Sparda has a red flame and will shroud the game screen in red sparks that erupt.

In Devil May Cry 2, the Force Edge replaces the Rebellion for Dante's Devil May Cry costume. It behaves exactly the same as the Rebellion. The awakened Sparda is also the main weapon for the bonus character, Trish. Trish is able to use several moves taken from the original Devil May Cry which are unique to the Sparda.

In Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, Vergil uses the Force Edge in conjunction with the Yamato. In addition, the Force Edge replaces the Rebellion for Dante's Devil May Cry and "Legendary Dark Knight" costumes. It behaves exactly the same as the Rebellion, except that it changes all of Dante's Devil Triggers so that they resemble Sparda.

In Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition, Vergil is in possession of the unawakened Force Edge as well, using it much like he did in Devil May Cry 3, in conjunction with Yamato. His moves don't differ much from those he used in the previous game of the series, although he gains some extra techniques like Drive and Round Trip. Trish also will use the sword in its awakened form, but has more shape shiftings to it, such as during one of her melee attacks, she turns Sparda to a scythe and golf swings the enemy away from her, and also she will combine or swap with her electric-combat skills with the sword.

Devil May Cry

 * Dante's Devil Arm
 * In the "HD Collection" Physical attacks have been changed, requiring players to press  instead of .

Devil May Cry 2

 * Dante's Devil Arm
 * Trish's Devil Arm

Devil May Cry 3

 * Vergil's Devil Arm

Devil May Cry 4

 * Vergil's Devil Arm

Trish's Devil Arm

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
The awakened Sparda is used by Trish and the dormant form is used at the same time by Vergil and by Dante in his alternate costume.

Sengoku Basara
Sanada Yukimura's sixth weapon is two Sparda swords. Along with the Sparda, Yukimura is equipped with the Ifrit as arm guards.

Devil May Cry Volume One
The Force Edge is Tony Redgrave's primary weapon.

Trivia

 * The red gem on the awakened Sword of Sparda bears strong resembalance to Perfect Amulet's gem.


 * If the Sparda Devil Trigger in the first game is obtained via gameshark or similar device, the damage output will make short work of every boss and enemy in the game except Mundus.
 * The awakened Sparda bears some resemblance to the demonic sword Soul Edge from Namco's Soul series.
 * In the epilogue scene of Devil May Cry Trish is shown wielding the Sparda while Dante wields the Force Edge.
 * In first trailers, Force Edge has a more curved guard.
 * The moves Drive for this sword is more unique because it has two colors. As Force Edge, its Drive was a black shockwave with a heatwave-like aura radiating from it. As for Spardas it resembled a black and red colored shockwave.